Model Number Twenty One
by Heir of Milenko
Summary: In one version of his life, he faced great challenges on his way to saving the world and becoming Hokage. In this version, he fell through a portal and wound up in an entirely different world. And from there... the work of a madman truly changed the course of his life. When Trunks destroys Doctor Gero's lab trying to kill Androids Seventeen and Eighteen, Project Twenty One awoke...
1. Chapter 1

Model Number Twenty One

Ch 1 – Designation: Bio-Weapon

"NO! If they release that Android, it'll be the end of everything!" With that shout, a boy with short purple hair released a blinding golden aura, his hair lighting into a spiked golden pattern, a beam of light lunging forth as he thrust both arms forward at what appeared to be two teenagers and a silver coffin. The teenagers seemed to watch uninterested as the blast approached, a massive explosion demolishing the whole of the cavern-based lab. As the boy and his comrades fled, they took to the skies of their own strengths; flying as though it were as easy as walking with no wings or jets to speak of.

While the rubble dispersed and the smoke cloud shrouded the devastated lab, an unseen pod labeled with a large 20 was visible in what seemed to be a bed chamber, the top half of this pod blown away. From within, red energy spilled forth from a freshly severed bottom half, shaping into the silhouette of a man's upper body. Within the cloud bone seemed to form from nothing, followed by veins, organs, muscle and finally skin growing out of the strange cloud. As the head formed, brilliant cerulean eyes shone forth from unruly blond hair that spiked every direction at random. A deep, vertical line from the hairline through the middle of each eye reached to the bottom of the chin, a similar line appearing like a band around the middle of each bicep.

He had strange armor-like sections upon his fore-arms, shoulders and over his abs. It was shiny and blue, looking like a sapphire but bending like flesh. There was a section like this on the back of each fore-arm in a rounded rectangular shape, a semi-circular section forming pauldrons that tightly yet completely covered each shoulder, and a simple rounded triangular plate that perfectly covered the abs. It seemed very much like they were simply different kinds of flesh, but what kind was as shiny as a gem would be a difficult question to answer. As he drew a breath, he ripped his now half-naked self from the pod and looked down at himself.

"Well what do you know… looks like I can heal from more than I'd thought." The man raised his right hand, looking at the differences to his memories. "That's weird… wasn't I… a fox? Or wait no… a kid? What's with this shit?" The man gripped his head in frustration, flashes of memory flying across his mind. "Son Goku? Who the fuck is that?" A multitude of images flashed in pertinence to a boy with a monkey's tail, the words 'Kill Son Goku' echoing cryptically over them. But then those were burnt away as he remembered what had happened.

-Flashback-

" _Sasuke!"_

" _Naruto!"_

 _Two mutated looking teens flew at each other holding a ball of deadly energy each, colliding in mid air. Their corrupt powers interblended as they clashed, forming a dark indigo sphere around them. As one held the upper hand, a boy with dark hair looking dark and almost demonic, he flapped massive hand-like wings and flew back away from it. As he did, a demon sealed within the other boy howled in rage, its crimson power flowing out from himself and the boy he was sealed within._

" _ **No! I do not die without my revenge! No matter HOW I GET IT!"**_

-Flashback-

' _Doctor Gero? Red Ribbon Army? Tch… what shit.'_ The man looked up and found that he could feel many of the energies surrounding him much more clearly than he'd ever been able to before. It was at that point that he began to sense the energies within him, finding that he had absolutely no personal reference for this level of strength. Its abundance, its potency; the very nature of this energy was completely new to his mind. Fortunately for him, it was far from new to his body. _'Project Twenty One… begun in Age 758, abandoned in Age 765… so I'm at least nineteen now? That's great…'_ As smoke lifted off his freshly regenerated body, the smell of burnt flesh reminded him of the other thing he'd lost. _'Kurama… if not for me, that name'd be lost to time wouldn't it? ...I'll get your revenge, fur ball.'_

The man wondered about the greater power signatures floating about above him, finding himself intrigued by them. He had a strange urge to fight, but it was pressed down more by his intrigue about this world and the power he could feel within. He floated up to set behind three of Gero's other Models, using their position to obscure himself from the power sources and the cliff they stood on to obscure himself from them. "Dr Gero programmed you with a mission to kill Goku, isn't that right?"

"Yes, that is correct." The response was mechanical, and from a clearly synthetic voice by its metallic over-tone. If the man was remembering the models correctly, that meant that it had to be one of the three imperfect models; Fourteen, Fifteen or Sixteen.

"Look at that, he does talk." Seventeen said, making light of something that clearly stressed most of the warriors across the canyon from them. As he and Eighteen went about investigating the Model, the strange man was curious of the people floating across the canyon.

"He must've been designed only to respond to subjects pertaining to his primary objective." Eighteen surmised, perhaps doing the Doctor a credit too many.

"What do you know? The Doctor actually programmed something properly after all. Of course, I _was_ supposed to be obedient as well; who knows how well that programming was designed?" Seventeen said, shrugging his shoulders in amusement. "Let's go." With that, the three began flying away, completely ignoring the others. The man considered the repercussions of going at the others himself, but he knew how to handle the other Models of Gero; one thing the pod had properly instilled into his memory were the capabilities of Gero's Projects. There was one that gave the man worry… but neither Seventeen nor Eighteen were, themselves, the threat. He had better odds tangling with the other Models given their odd camaraderie due simply to the other Model's presence within the lab.

-0-

It seemed the man might have reason to reveal himself, as the strongest power amongst the others grew agitated and took off after the trio. The strange man sighed to himself, speeding off behind the golden aura tailing his would-be allies. As the golden light reached the other Models, so did the strange man reach the man with a shining golden aura and spiky golden hair flowing with said power. As the strange man landed, the other Models all seemed to express interest in him.

"Oh? And just who are you?" Seventeen asked, the gold-haired man growing further agitated at what seemed to be Seventeen ignoring him. The strange man noted but did not comment on the golden man, responding first to Seventeen.

"I'm sort of similar to you, I suppose; I'm one of Doctor Gero's Projects. He made efforts to alter all of us, 'improve' us; my alterations were all completely biological apart from some subliminal information implanting." The man said, Seventeen tilting his head in amusement. The large Model behind him fit the man's understanding of Android Sixteen's appearance, said Android speaking in response.

"Model Number Twenty One; Designation, Bio-Weapon. Primary Purpose; Failed to Program. Base Personality; Data Not Found. Base Power; Data Not Found. Notes; Subject has made a full recovery and draws breath, but all attempts at awakening Twenty One have failed. With no Neurological implants, forced awakening is impossible. At the present time, all that can be done is to wait for him to awaken; until then Model Twenty One is a failure." Sixteen seemed to have a schematic on the strange man within his data banks, the strange man's own memory telling him that the Sixteen Model was completely synthetic.

"Thanks for backing me up there, big guy. My name is Naruto, though; the Doctor never got the chance to ask me that." The man, Naruto said, Seventeen chuckling as the golden haired man bristled with rage. "Hey, you; you're looking for a fight aren't you?" Naruto asked, the golden haired man glaring at him. "Try me on then, I'm curious about how this strange energy of mine works; you stand good chance of helping me learn that."

Instead of a response, Naruto was answered by a swift blast of light launched from the man's hand, surprising the blond. However, he found himself only mildly discomforted as the blast impacted his chest and burned away around him. His skin slightly reddened for a moment before quickly fading to normal, Naruto smirked to himself.

"You see, that's what I mean. That's a very impressive attack; and strange to me, I didn't feel anything but a bit of a push from it. Take this seriously, idiot! I want you to make me work!" Naruto rushed toward the man, surprising himself again as he was immediately within combat range with a fierce punch slamming into the man's face to launch him into a nearby mountain. Seventeen and Eighteen were mildly impressed with the show of force, Naruto gripping his hands tightly in surprise at the insane strength he'd demonstrated. "What the hell kind of strength have I got now?"

"Well, it looks like the Doctor did too good a job with you; healed you to full and made you a great deal stronger. Plus he failed to brainwash you; that's another bonus." Eighteen said, Naruto chuckling.

"I'll be fair… the life I left behind wasn't much fun for me. This is sure a hell of a lot more interesting." Naruto crossed his arms, turning to look to the other three. "I'm not certain, but he's either dead or unconscious; can we go somewhere that I can get some clothes? I don't feel like running around without a shirt on all the time." Seventeen chuckled while Eighteen smirked, Sixteen completely disregarding the others as he looked off toward the north.

"That's what Eighteen wanted to do, sounds like we have a set plan. Hop on into the van, let's get going." Seventeen said, opening the door of a pink delivery van. Naruto raised an eyebrow, but got into the back with Sixteen nonetheless. As the trio went on their way, the golden-haired man had been knocked out and power down beneath the great pile of rubble left behind by his stronger opponent's strike.

"So, you say your name is Naruto, right? Sixteen called you Model Twenty One, and you say you're biological; if you don't have _any_ tech implants, how do you know your own specs at all?" Eighteen asked, Naruto answering calmly.

"I don't exactly know my specs, I just know that whatever Gero did to me he only used organic materials for; there was a voice in that pod that played constantly, it put certain things in my memory." Naruto said, thinking to ask about certain things from his pod he didn't recognize. "What exactly is so special about Son Goku that the Doctor decided to splice his DNA so thoroughly on top of my original body? I still wasn't more than half human anymore, but I'm less than a tenth of that original body with what the Pod told me about his… 'repairs'."

"Son Goku is the strongest earthling alive, an alien called a Saiyan that was raised on Earth through circumstances unknown to the Red Ribbon Army." Sixteen was the one to answer, pleasing Naruto who found his text-book answers easy to understand. "The primary benefits to the genetics of a Saiyan seem to be naturally incredible strength, along with a trait to grow much more powerful upon recovering from near-death. Recent update implemented during my latest repairs state that Model Twenty One was a failure only due to a pre-operation coma from its initial condition. Implementation of Son Goku and Freeza's DNA in large-scale genetic grafting allowed full physical and neurological recoveries, no evidence of the Coma's root-cause remaining while Model Twenty One still failed to awaken."

"Ok… so what? What's so special about Freeza then?" Eighteen chuckled at that, giving Naruto a sly smirk.

"Freeza was a different race of alien, one that can survive extreme dismemberment and breathe in the void of space. According to conversations overheard from Son Goku, Freeza survived having his lower body and left arm chopped off, and a planet exploding beneath him for long enough to be recovered and healed by his Father." Eighteen said, Naruto raising an eyebrow.

"The blast that destroyed the lab obliterated everything above my waist, so I'd say I can survive more than that. Although… maybe Freeza's DNA is why I can heal more than I used to be able to." Naruto said, finding himself lost in his thought as the three drove off toward town. While his healing ability had always been uniquely efficient, it shouldn't have been able to regenerate without any torso or head remaining; or rather it couldn't when he was just human. Maybe Freeza's race could withstand the negative effects of the energy, let him heal more than he used to? Of course, it's also possible Freeza's DNA caused his red power to change as well… he had no way to know.

When Eighteen came out of the store the three had stopped in front of, she found that Naruto found clothes suitable to him and left long before she'd decided on anything. He wore black pants, the combat boots he'd awoken in and an orange tank top; a very simple outfit to suit his color preference. He'd have gotten some blue, but his new arms handled that part of his color scheme.

Seventeen had been bored and frustrated, and blasted the store now that they were done with the place that had wasted so much of his time. Eighteen sighed in exasperation, Naruto chuckling. "Little testy, Seventeen? Relax, we can go find Goku now. That should be fun enough for you." Seventeen didn't respond, Eighteen shaking her head as the others filed back into the van. "We're indulging your van at least, I'd rather just fly there; much less time wasting involved."

"I wanna drive, you can fly if you want but you seem to enjoy company more than you hate waiting." Seventeen said, smirking at Naruto through the mirror. The blond ignored Seventeen's point, a mark that he agreed with the Android. Even still, Seventeen found Naruto amusing to mess with. If he ever had any, Seventeen surely couldn't remember being friends with anyone in his life. But then, his circuitry did a good job of cleaning most old memories away. The only early memory he or Eighteen could recall was the other's face at varying younger ages; they were twin siblings.

"So, what do we even plan on doing when we get through with Goku? It's not like we can get a very good fight out of anyone else, at least not for long; and I personally don't like just destroying things." Naruto said, honestly a little tired of wanton destruction. Part of his original body's memories involved centuries of killing humans who couldn't fight back in a whole slew of interesting ways; but it was always inevitably the same old game. It wasn't very rewarding for him when he'd save strangers, but it always played out more interestingly than simply killing them. And then on top of it, the personality of that original life that remained intact would have been appalled at the killing if not for that perspective, and even still was a bit put off by it. It made him see Seventeen as childish, having a great deal of power and using it for joy killing instead of self improvement.

"I don't really know, blowing stuff up is pretty interesting but it's not properly fun; I'm not exactly sure what I'd wanna do. I guess just go along with Seventeen, see what stupid little games we can come up with." Eighteen said, Naruto sighing.

"Guess I'll be off doing something else then; I never liked killing innocent people. It tends to irk me." Naruto said, Seventeen laughing at him.

"Look who's got a conscience, the one made from the world's strongest man and the universe's greatest tyrant! You almost sound like you're judging me, _Twenty One_." Seventeen said, emphasizing the Model Number.

"I'll admit that you and Eighteen both have aggression programmed thoroughly in your minds; but mark my words, it'll serve to hold you back. Another thing from my memories before… someone who helped me was an angry warrior, and after everything that happened to have me end up here, my perspective with his memories made it clear where his temper held him back." Naruto explained, Eighteen looking at him with intrigue while Seventeen tried not to react. "He had so much power it clouded him, made him think there was no higher to climb; he was always wrong about that. He just never stopped and used his cunning to fight instead of deceive. You could use that bored ingenuity of yours to train, instead of kill people for fun."

"… whatever, Naruto. I'll do you a favor, I'll consider not just killing everyone on earth after Goku. But I'm still probably gonna do it." Seventeen said, Naruto taking his turn to chuckle.

"Fine, but that means you'd be killing bunches of innocent, lovely women; aren't guys your age supposed to be interested in girls, Seventeen?" Naruto asked, leaving the contrary as a hanging implication should Seventeen choose to ignore his question again. With an annoyed look, Seventeen turned around in his seat a moment to glare properly.

"Yes, I am, but the years of being switched on and off like a toy are still kinda fresh in my mind, you know?" He asked, Naruto grinning toothily at him.

"So you're telling me you're willing to let Gero control your life from the grave? How is that any different than leaving his remote control in his hand?" Naruto asked, Seventeen slamming the brakes at that.

"You know what, Naruto? You're right; this _is_ taking too long. How about we get this show on the road?" Seventeen was not expecting this nature of argument to occur, especially not to someone he'd hoped to call a friend not a whole hour before. The infuriating part was his inability to find a reasonable counter-argument; the Blond using his youth against Seventeen. As Seventeen stepped out and took off toward Sixteen's affirmed heading for Son Goku's house, he found himself riddling over those questions.

' _You're willing to let Gero control your life from the grave?'_ Throughout the flight to Goku's home, this question would echo in the cybernetic man's mind while his three comrade Models followed.

-0-

"You heard me; something that looked like a cross between a Saiyan and one of Freeza's people knocked me unconscious with a single punch into the rock-face." The man who'd been punched by Naruto now stood before his allies, atop a lookout at the highest altitude on earth, above even the highest of clouds. A man with unruly hair sticking about randomly wearing an orange gi with blue obi, wristbands and boots had his arms crossed, a contemplative look on his face.

"No time to lose then, you guys had better get in right away. With Cell going about, there's no telling what might happen while we're busy training up here. We have to make the most of our time." This man was well known as Son Goku, and the one he spoke to was Vegeta. "I'll see you guys in a year; we'll be waiting right here."

With that, Vegeta and the young man who destroyed Gero's lab walked into the structure atop the lookout and entered a pair of large, wooden double doors.

-0-

"I suppose the only other place for him would have to be at Kame House. Better get going, we don't wanna waste any more time." Naruto said, the four regrouping in front before swiftly taking off in the direction of the Kame House, residence of Goku's Martial Arts instructor, the Turtle Hermit Roshi. With Naruto growing impatient along with Seventeen, the group rushed for the area, reaching it in little under ten minutes. When they arrived, they found several of Goku's average human friends along with his wife, and one other being they weren't expecting; a green man known to the world as Piccolo. Naruto, however, did not know that. What he knew was that a Martial Arts Master lived here… and Naruto had a question about Goku.

"Excuse me sir, I must make a request of the Turtle Hermit; would you please ask him to speak with me?" Naruto asked, the other three models looking at him inquisitively. He raised a hand at them, explaining himself. "I was trained as a warrior, I wish to afford a Master the respect due his years and learn about this world in the process." As Piccolo returned outside, an old man with white moustache and beard, Hawaiian t-shirt and red-rimmed sunglasses came out leaning upon a staff with a thick knot at the top. Naruto bowed deeply at the waist, the old man raising an eyebrow in interest. "Hello Master Roshi, my name is Naruto. I'm a Bio-Weapon designed by Doctor Gero, but with the Doctor gone I have no means for learning about this world. Our primary objective is to Kill Goku, but I was a trained warrior and I don't take orders from strangers; I would like you to justify why I should _not_ kill Goku."


	2. Chapter 2

Model Number Twenty One

Ch 2 – One's Own Beliefs

"Why shouldn't I kill Son Goku?" It was an odd thing to hear one of Gero's Projects ask, but it was ultimately something that Roshi was more than ready to answer.

"Because he is this world's Light, Goku has saved countless of innocent lives out of nothing but pure hearted intent to protect the innocent and be the strongest fighter there is. He's completely selfless, and his whole life has made sacrifices to ensure the safety and happiness of others." Roshi explained, Naruto thoroughly interested. "He spent his entire childhood roaming the world, fighting the strongest Warriors and learning from all the best; all just so he could try his best to win the World Martial Arts Tournament, what for years was his version of the most fun a boy could have." Naruto had been smiling before, but now he felt extremely positive about everything.

"Really? That's… that's definitely not what Gero's attempt at programming tried to tell me." Naruto said, grinning to himself. He bowed again, gratitude clear on his face. "Thank you very much Master, that answer is plenty for me. I doubt my fellow Projects here agree with me… but I'd rather not kill Son Goku. He seems almost just like… almost just like I was before Gero." Naruto said, Seventeen and Eighteen looking at him in surprise. Naruto stepped forward once, smiling at the other two former-humans. "You three all have the same capacity to make that choice, Gero's programming only has so much sway. Think for just a moment; Gero's will was to subjugate you three, use you as slaves to do his bidding. Killing Goku is just another part of that bidding. I encourage a fight with Goku and his friends, they're the strongest people there are; but please don't kill Goku." Naruto looked intently at the three, yet to his surprise, only Sixteen reacted at all to him; and further to his surprise it was in agreement.

"The natural beauty of this world is irreplaceable, the Red Ribbon Army in all endeavors has brought dark clouds to this world. I do not wish to continue with such devious intent, such senseless destruction of life." Sixteen explained, stepping over to where Naruto stood and turning against the other two just the same. This caused Seventeen to shrug, stepping around them to look at Piccolo.

"You've been awful quiet this whole time, green man. How about you show me the way to Son Goku?" Seventeen asked, Naruto hovering up with a sigh. Seventeen watched him, finding himself rather annoyed by his behavior. "And where are you going, anyway? If you aren't with us, you'll just end up being killed like the rest." This spurred proper laughter from Naruto, floating into position to escape Seventeen and Eighteen's reach. While Seventeen was occupied, Eighteen kept her eyes fixed on Naruto and Sixteen.

"I'm heading off to get some help from Son Goku; since you never thought to ask, I'll inform you that I woke up with the ability to feel power levels. Androids don't give off power levels, your mechanical bits utilize all of the ambient power. Gero never could program that ability; I developed mine from Freeza's DNA. I've had a suspicion, but now I know that I've had a beat on Goku's location since I awoke." With that, Naruto grabbed Sixteen by the shoulder and the two vanished from sight entirely. Eighteen couldn't tell which way they'd gone, and with no way to sense energy now that Naruto had left them…

"Damn, they got away!"

-0-

"Dad, w-what's that heading this way?!" A boy with hair similar to Goku's asked the man, Goku taking on a serious look as the power rapidly approached.

"I don't know Gohan… but I'm sure you can sense whose energy it feels like." As Goku finished his sentence, Naruto and Sixteen appeared on the lookout. Naruto looked around, taking sight of Goku before grinning and holding up his hands.

"Hey, I need to talk to you; we mean you no harm! I promise!" Naruto called, Sixteen looking at him questioningly before raising his own hands like Naruto. Goku was taken aback at that, the boy named Gohan remaining suspicious. "My name is Naruto, Doctor Gero's Model Number Twenty One; I'm a Bio-Weapon made of my original body, your DNA and Freeza's DNA. I just spoke to Master Roshi, asked him one important question." Naruto led in, Goku thinking that Naruto may have attacked Roshi. "Gero tried to brainwash me to kill you, gave me lots of memories of you killing people; so I wanted to ask someone who didn't hate you why I shouldn't kill you. Roshi gave me one hell of an answer… so I decided it would be an awful idea to kill you. Android Sixteen next to me agreed with me."

"… if you have Freeza's DNA, then I guess you found us by sensing our energy." Gohan said, far surpassing his father in general intelligence. "How are we supposed to be able to trust you two? You just admitted to being Gero's creations, how can we take you at your word?" Naruto laughed a little, scratching the back of his head.

"See, that's where I expect you guys to be a bit mean for a while; you kind of can't take us at our word. We won't have any proof unless you give us a chance and then we don't betray you." Naruto said, Goku crossing his arms and looking at him funny.

"Not quite, there is one thing I can do that'll let me know the absolute truth... the truth as far as you know, at least." Goku said, taking a couple steps forward toward the two before him. "Don't you move an inch though, I don't want to fight up here; it's a sacred place."

"For what my opinion's worth, I think these gardens are lovely." Android Sixteen interjected, his eyes fixed solidly on the perfectly kept hedges around the lookouts bare furnishings. Sixteen felt his programming screaming, pushing him to enact his objective and fight Goku; but his mind held his program down. He was busy enjoying the scenery; mechanical prompts could wait while he enjoyed his scenery. Goku put the palm of his hand against Naruto's forehead, the blond groaning as the man skimmed through Naruto's memories. Only the post-Gero memories were visible, Naruto's earlier memories largely locked away from even him. However, it was enough memory for him to feel the shift in Naruto's opinion of what to do.

"Wow, well isn't that great; they're telling the truth!" Goku said, a big grin and an aura of pure relief washing over him. At Goku's assurance, Gohan found himself comfortable coming forward and starting to treat the two like people.

"I'm really sorry for being so suspicious, it's just that the Red Ribbon Army has always been full of liars, so I had to know my Dad could trust you." Gohan said, Naruto smiling at the boy who seemed half his age; who seemed the age he was last human. Naruto ruffled Gohan's hair about, carefree grin appearing from ages long past.

"It's alright kid, you care about your friends; you're just being careful." Naruto said, Goku immediately grateful at Gero's mistake in choosing a good person to experiment on. That thought made Goku grimace at what had been taken from Naruto… but those thoughts were best left until they could collect the Dragon Balls. "So, Goku… both Gero and Roshi acclaim that you're the strongest person who's yet to live on earth. Would you… you saw my memories, you know why I sought you out at all."

Goku laughed amusedly, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "You know, I'd really love to, except the other Androids have us backed into a corner. I didn't see anything about him… do either of you know anything about an Android called Cell?" At that, Sixteen's eyes glazed over the way they always did just before he repeated what he'd found in his data banks.

"Project Cell; Designation, Bio-Weapon. Primary Purpose, achieve Perfected Form through complete, intact assimilation of Androids Seventeen and Eighteen. Base Personality, prominent psychological markers between King Cold and Vegeta paint Project Cell's Personality as Psychopathic with extreme desire specifically to obtain Perfected Form. Notes, Expect to need to activate Project Cell remotely, the specimen is even more power-hungry than I am. However, even without me it is the ultimate testament to my genius; the crowning achievement of the whole of the Red Ribbon Army." As Sixteen's monotone description concluded, Naruto found himself wary of this thing.

"So… that's the strange power signature I've been feeling." Naruto mused, finding himself slightly worried at this 'Project Cell' and its potential. "I think… that he might be a good way to prove my intentions to your comrades." Naruto said, Goku and Gohan laughing.

"Don't worry about that, they'll believe me if I vouch for you; especially since all my friends know I can do that." Goku said, Naruto smiling as he shook his head.

"No, not for their peace of mind; for mine. I don't like being handed things, trust especially; I want to earn it my way." Naruto said, Goku unable to do anything but nod with approval. It was like him, he wanted to accomplish something for his rewards. In an instant, all eyes turned back toward Kame House; the strange power source just sky rocketed. "Sixteen, basic calculation, consider Cell's strength against Seventeen's; what are the odds this power surge is Cell absorbing Seventeen?"

"Fifty percent; it is possible that he is absorbing Eighteen." Sixteen answered, confirming Naruto's worry.

"God DAMMIT KID!" Naruto was about to take off before he grimaced, as though something were stopping him. "Cell is biological, he can sense energy too… if I blaze in and take her away I'll be like a homing beacon right to Eighteen. Sixteen! I hate to treat you like a subordinate, but we need Eighteen in safety RIGHT NOW and you're the only one besides her that Cell can't track. I'll go with you and distract him from your physical self, you just make sure not to use anything that leaves an energy trail and get her OUT _NOW_!" Naruto didn't wait for a response, he once more took hold of the great Android and took flight toward Cell.

-0-

Naruto flared his aura, doing everything he could to effectively announce his approach so as to distract from Sixteen's. As they were only instants away, Naruto released Sixteen so he wouldn't visibly appear with Naruto; this left Naruto appearing before Cell while Sixteen fell to an island far behind. But it was close enough; Eighteen was fleeing and followed Sixteen as she saw him fall.

"So… _you_ are the one who proved to Gero how useful Freeza's cells could be. I suppose… that I owe _you_ for my opportunity to progress, _Naruto_." A green insect-like man spoke to Naruto in a deep, gruff voice. It had Seventeen's eyes, unique to Eighteen's own in the faint why life shone behind them. But now… they were even dimmer than the cybernetic teen's had been. It made Naruto feel sadness for the Android he'd tried to get to think about his actions. Now, Seventeen was truly lost. That made Naruto feel anger at the arrogant bug man before him.

"And you're the one that has to absorb two kidnapped and fucked up teenagers to advance your goals," Naruto replied, glaring at the thing in disgust, "I suppose I'll have to take my regrets out on you. You know… I was trying to help Seventeen think like a human again. Why is that so hard for people like Gero?" Naruto asked, the bug-man laughing at him heartily. "What's so funny? I missed the joke."

"You're funny, Twenty One. You expect me to care about what manner of man Gero was, or even to care that Seventeen was once innocent; but such things do not matter. I am destined to become the Perfect life form, all other things mean nothing in the face of my glory!" The thing stepped outward into a stance, its long tail lifting up and over his shoulder like a readied spear. "I am Cell, and you will know the terror of becoming my lunch!" Naruto vanished at the same moment as Cell's mind exploded with pain, purple blood gushing in spurts as his tail was removed from his body by the blond who now stood behind him. "B-But how?! I couldn't e-even s-s-see-"

"How? You talk too much." Naruto's amusing demeanor was long gone, replaced by the cold and serious manner of a trained killer. Even having only started his career, Naruto knew a good deal more about combat than Dr. Gero ever had; with Naruto's strength up to par, this put Cell woefully out of his class. Naruto speared Cell's torso rapidly with each hand, a crane-handed assault barrage pulverizing _through_ the Bio-Droid at an insane rate. Cell's face was paralyzed in agony, fountains of purple blood spewing from each strike and bursting up from Cell's mouth. As Cell fell to the ground, Naruto spoke to the monster. "You might be able to withstand as much as I can without healing, and you might get stronger each time you survive near death like I do, but you can't regenerate from as much as I can. However… you can regenerate fast enough to hurt plenty first."

"What has you all out of sorts, freak?" A voice asked Naruto from above, the Mutant blond looking up to see Vegeta sustaining his golden haired form far more stably than when Naruto had first tested his strength. "This weakling trash is barely worth any time at all, and yet you're making an effort to torture him; what's the point?"

"He absorbed Android Seventeen… I don't expect one as proud of himself as you to understand, but I was trying to get Seventeen to think for himself again instead of going with Gero's programming." While Vegeta scoffed carelessly at the idea, his son Trunks behind him looked intently at Naruto. He could see the rage in Naruto's eyes… it was the same rage as was present in the Gohan of his own timeline. Naruto had lost someone he felt responsible for… someone he was trying to help. That was vengeful anger in the blond's eyes. "I don't care what you're here for, you don't get any consideration until after I've destroyed this scum."

"And who's to say you're allowed that choice? I came for a good fight, I want to see if this fool is as strong as he thinks he is." Naruto looked at Vegeta with his serious gaze, his vibrant blue eyes shimmering with determination. Naruto appeared before Vegeta fast as thought, the Saiyan Prince being held from the throat by the blond.

"You are a proud, arrogant fool. I do this to make a clear point to you Vegeta, one you'd do well to remember. I can kill you whenever I want. If you continue this arrogant stance of ordering me about, I will make a habit of personally humiliating you in front of Goku. If you do something that compromises any innocent lives, I will exact revenge one pound of flesh at a time." Naruto pulled the Saiyan prince close, bringing his red energy out of his core to cover the Saiyan. His eyes went wide in pain, his flesh immediately beginning to burn. "Have I made myself clear, _Prince_ Vegeta?" As fast as he'd appeared before the man, Naruto was back on the ground holding Cell's regenerating form in front of his face by his neck. "Gero's designs really are tenacious, aren't they? Old Bastard…"

"You damned fool, how dare you stand in my way! If only I'd had another few minutes, if only I could've reached my Perfect Form before you found me!" Cell roared, Naruto releasing a cruel chuckle at the Bio-Droid.

"Quite the gamble, isn't it? The possibility that you still couldn't do a thing if you'd made it?" Naruto asked, Cell's eyes bulging with rage at his predicament. "Unfortunately, I'm more disciplined in warfare than anyone your 'Army' has ever worked with; you don't have the skills needed to survive my methods." Cell glared through him, beckoning to his Saiyan DNA.

"I guarantee you, if I was in my Perfect Form, I could wipe the floor with all three of you at once!" Naruto scoffed at him now, annoyed with the futility of his ideal.

"Doesn't matter, does it? A hostile and superior power is holding you helpless; you'll never accomplish your goal." Naruto said, looking calmly into Cell's eyes. "You stole those eyes from an innocent young man who was transformed into a savage; I wonder if that look of terror was the last emotion he wore with them." Naruto seemed to want nothing more than to drive Cell to madness with holding him helpless, that having been one thing Cell was not intended to ever be.

Unfortunately for Naruto's work in brutally ending Cell, Vegeta was thrall to his Saiyan urge to fight a stronger opponent. With a mighty kick, he managed to daze Naruto thoroughly enough for Cell to launch out of Naruto's grip toward the last island in the area that he'd failed to check yet. Seeing Eighteen with her back turned and talking with Sixteen, Cell launched a red ball of energy at Sixteen while focusing his energies on quickly regenerating the last of his tail. As he touched down, the blast struck Sixteen while his tail came down around Android Eighteen. As Cell forcefully pulled Eighteen down and into himself in fear of Naruto's fore-warned speed, becoming far more than elated as his final transformation commenced. Vegeta looked on with a smirk, before his vision went dark as he was knocked out by a furious Naruto. He looked to Cell, growling to himself as he picked Vegeta up and sped off toward the Lookout, Trunks following suit.

-0-

As the purple haired boy caught up to Naruto, the blond spoke out to him. "Given the reason you're in the past at all, I assume you agree with my distaste for your father's most recent action." Trunks did not have the will to respond, reeling in terror at the still increasing power of the transforming Cell they'd abandoned. "Don't think on Cell for now; it'll slow you down. Once he gets his sense of self back we need to be restraining our energies, the time for lee way has ended. Your father made the mistake of allowing Cell to grow beyond my ability to simply exterminate him. Now every single attempt holds a great chance of doing nothing but increasing the bastard's power."

"What do you want outta me?! I couldn't have stopped Father!" Trunks shouted, Naruto scoffing at him.

"You're stronger than him; if you and your Mother didn't enable his prideful ways so much you wouldn't have spared his damn feelings in the face of the whole world." Naruto's words held a bitter tone, now feeling regret at his inability to save either of the Androids Gero had crafted from the kidnapped twins. Naruto was cursed with the knowledge of exactly what they'd all lost to Gero, and this served to infuriate him when he thought of the atrocities Cell was committing. Gero was right… Cell was the ultimate realization of Gero's evil intent.

Now, as Naruto and Trunks brought Vegeta back to the Lookout, Naruto carelessly threw the Prince to the ground and dropped into a lotus stance with fury etched into his face. All of Goku's friends were there on the Lookout, and each of them looked to Trunks, a serious look on most of their faces. The question was clear, and the first thing Trunks did was ashamedly look to his unconscious father. "I gather that this Android is making an active effort to hide his energy so his temper doesn't reveal our location… he was about to exterminate Cell, obliterate every bit so he couldn't regenerate. Then… then Father heard Cell howling about how he could win in his Perfect Form."

"Fool. He very well may have doomed the entire world for his pride." Mr. Popo was not in a good humor at this, and he knew that Goku would be displeased when he returned from his time within the strange Lookout's mysterious room. Piccolo looked to Naruto, finding himself curious of the blond.

"You aren't like the other ones, you have a power level. Why is that?" Piccolo asked, the blond taking a deep breath to keep his anger in check before answering.

"I'm not exactly an android, I was pieced together from cloned-tissue of Goku and Freeza onto my original body. It's rather lucky I survived long enough for Gero to collect Freeza's DNA, he was working on me for seven years before he gave up at not being able to wake me up." Naruto explained, finding his rage calming as he spoke on other things. "Call me Naruto, Gero's Model Number doesn't mean anything to me."

Piccolo looked intently at him, walking toward Naruto wordlessly. The blond man allowed Piccolo to reach his hand out to his forehead, Piccolo's eyes dimming before looking at Naruto with recognition. "So… you really were trying to get through to the other two. I thought you were posturing to gain information from us." Piccolo admitted, Naruto chuckling.

"I figured as much, but it wasn't a problem as long as I didn't get aggressive at all. That's what Goku did to test if I was lying or not, too." Naruto answered, noticing Piccolo turn to look off the edge of the Lookout suddenly. A few moments later, and a mangled Android Sixteen landed atop the Lookout. He had gaping holes through his body, reminiscent of the destruction Naruto had done to Cell's Second Form. "Sixteen! You're still alive?!"

"Wouldn't functioning be more accurate?" Trunks asked, Naruto scoffing at him.

"Fuck off, he's alive." Sixteen collapsed to the ground, most of his motor functions malfunctioning from the beating against the physical stress of flying back here. Naruto immediately went to the fallen Android, looking intently at the sparking hole in Sixteen's head as he tried to speak. "What is it, man? Why'd you push yourself so hard to get back up here?"

"Cell let me escape with-with a message." Sixteen's CPU seemed damaged, he was repeating random words in a glitch-like tone with a short twitch of his head. "In Ten days he's going to hold a tournament for the strongest fighters, he wants-wants you all to train and then win-win in front of the planet before he destroys everything." Sixteen proceeded to close his eyes and lie down, a soft whirring sound appearing before dying down to silence. "Damage severe, powering down to preserve functionality until repairs are available."

Naruto looked off toward where Cell had been before, glaring in the direction. "Ten days to train… shouldn't have given me so much time, Cell. I'll kill you!" Piccolo was very familiar with the nature of Naruto's emotions, his own parent having utilized the rage of humans to toy with humanity. Piccolo put his arm on Naruto's shoulder, the blond not wavering.

"When Goku and Gohan come back out, you and I should take a turn in the Time Chamber; I can help you train your finesse and teach you to use energy most effectively." Naruto turned to look at Piccolo, a nod the only response the blond gave.


	3. Chapter 3

Model Number Twenty One

Ch 3 – Strange Meeting

"And just why the hell not?!" This was the shout Vegeta responded with when Trunks told him no one could leave the lookout until Goku came back out. Naruto still had no clue what was taking the man so long, Piccolo saying something about a 'Time Chamber' without clarifying at all. Vegeta was preparing to leave, to which Naruto stood in his way with an annoyed look on his face. "What, you plan to actually face me when you attack this time? See if you can handle my power in an actual fight!"

"If you truly could handle me, you wouldn't have needed to kick me from behind to save Cell." Naruto said, Vegeta trying to push past but finding Naruto's burning aura leaping out at him. "I'm not letting you leave, but if you'd prefer I'll crush you to your face this time." Naruto said, Vegeta appearing with his fist slammed into Naruto's right cheek without budging the blond an inch. Naruto reached out and grabbed each of Vegeta's shoulders, staring the man in the eye as he began to viciously smash Vegeta's face with his own. After the fourth head butt, Vegeta slumped back down to the floor. Trunks groaned, looking to Naruto with frustration.

"Do you really have to push him like that? You could try calmly getting him to listen!" Trunks said, not able to completely disagree with Naruto's actions.

"No, I don't have to; but if he wants to challenge me, I won't feel bad letting my temper out on him." Naruto said, walking back over to stare out across the clouds in contemplation. Naruto didn't make it all the way there before Popo began calling out from inside the building.

"They're coming back out!" Naruto turned to walk toward the large double doors opened with a bright light behind them. Wearing tattered versions of the outfits they'd entered in, Gohan and Goku came out in the same stable golden form that Vegeta had attained back before he messed with Cell's execution.

"Ok Goku, I've left it alone cuz in my own life my powers made my hair do weird things, but now it definitely seems significant." Naruto led in, obviously wondering about the hair. "What the fuck's with everyone going goldilocks and getting upwards of ten times stronger when they do?" At that Goku made an O with his mouth, exclaiming amusingly in surprise.

"Hey, how can you sense that? I thought we had our powers completely calmed! You shouldn't be able to sense our ki so easily." Goku said, Naruto chuckling a bit.

"Someone who was with me a long time was able to sense energy within people by looking at them, made him arrogant when he came against more skilled yet far weaker opponents. I look at you and I can feel how much energy you've got." Naruto explained, looking over to Gohan before looking back to Goku sharply with a raised eyebrow. Goku smiled at Naruto's intrigue, nodding affirmatively to what Naruto sensed in Gohan. _'Well… that's definitely not part of what the Doctor projected.'_ "So, my guess; your hair and power are both golden when your strengths are boosted so much. My question is what exactly it is that's happening."

"It's called Super Saiyan, it's a transformation that Saiyans and half-breeds are able to take on under extreme emotions. It normally uses your stamina way faster than normal, but if you master it like this it becomes normal strain with the massive power boost." Goku explained, Naruto smirking at that explanation.

"Half-breeds, eh? I wonder if the Doctor did anything that would prevent me from doing that with your DNA spliced through most of me. Actually, given the Pod's info on my recreation…" Naruto thought a moment, considering the theorizations Gero had for how his genetic structure came together in the end. "I should be able to transform in some way… this body is about even between yours and Freeza's cells, only ten percent of the original me still here."

Goku put his hand to his chin, finding himself curious as to if he could transform. "It's possible you couldn't transform at all, but it's just as possible for you to be able to transform like Freeza or I could." Naruto found himself lost in thought, before Piccolo came up to him.

"We're wasting time. You need to learn how to do the basics before you start worrying about transformations. Let's get to it." Piccolo said, leading Naruto back and toward the brightly-lit chamber. As they neared it, Naruto felt himself beginning to grow tenser. He wondered if that were a property of the chamber or his own worries. He still wasn't sure what they meant, but Naruto assumed that this Time Chamber had something to do with allowing them to train faster somehow.

As the two entered, Naruto felt comfortable voicing his questions. "So, this Time Chamber; how exactly does it help us train?" Piccolo laughed, having forgotten Naruto's ignorance of the situations before him. This _was_ a young man who'd knocked a Super Saiyan out without a clue about how to use energy attacks.

"While only one day passes outside, one entire year will pass in here. The atmosphere makes exercise a bit more difficult, but it will still give us plenty of time to teach you how to use that power of yours." Piccolo walked out of the small building in the Time Chamber, Naruto following to find a vast empty expanse of bleach white. He then had to dodge an energy beam that came from Piccolo's outstretched arm, the man wearing a frown. "That's more or less a basic attack, try and find your ki energy within yourself and channel it out in an attack."

-0-

When the Saiyan prince had awoken, he was faced with Trunks, Goku and Gohan all looking at him with mixtures of distrust, disbelief and disappointment. These weren't the thoughts on his mind, however, he thought only of instant recompense against Naruto for 'getting in the way'. As he looked about, he noted that he couldn't sense Naruto's energy anywhere. Before he could say anything, Goku spoke up with a frustrated glare on his face.

"You just can't think of leaving a strong fight alone, can you? Even though it means everyone we care about might die, you always seek out the strongest challenge." Goku's voice held none of its usual compassion, no hint of sympathy; Goku was truly disappointed. "It's lucky that Naruto got you out of there, Cell's power is way beyond you now."

"Be silent, Kakarot! You have no idea of what I'm capable of!" Vegeta retorted in rage, glaring fiercely into his rival's eyes. "If that stupid freak hadn't gotten in my way, Cell would be a pile of ashes scattering in the breeze!" Goku glared now, his anger becoming clear to Vegeta.

"It doesn't matter anymore. We need to keep training to beat Cell thanks to you, we don't have time for this." Goku said, Vegeta scowling at him.

"Then why aren't we getting back into that room to train for another year or so?" Vegeta asked, Goku chuckling at him.

"If you think torturing yourself in there is anything like real training, then you go ahead; I have something different in mind." Vegeta looked intently at Goku's face, looking for any kind of hint at his meaning behind a knowing smile. Vegeta scoffed, turning with his arms crossed. At this point, Goku seemed to suddenly remember something. "Oh crap, Naruto went into the Time Chamber already; I wanted to know if I was right about how strong Cell's gotten. Oh well, Gohan! Come with me." Goku said, taking off of the lookout and beginning to head straight downward.

Meanwhile, it had been six hours since Naruto and Piccolo entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. This put the climate within at the Time Chamber's Winter phase.

Naruto and Piccolo stood across from each other atop a frozen floor, clouds of vapor clear with each breath. Due to their alien physiologies, neither man was hindered beyond discomfort, Naruto looking determinedly to Piccolo. The green man vanished, Naruto flipping himself upside down and swiping an axe kick above his head, releasing a thin concussive blast that through a descending Piccolo off balance. Naruto flew up with a blue aura sparking to life around him, flying up next to Piccolo in the instant he was off balance and flying downward while bending at the waist to bring Piccolo flying into the floor using a spike-style head butt.

Piccolo flipped himself over to land feet first, thrusting his left arm up to launch a beam at Naruto. As Naruto flew downward, he flipped around again and kicked down into the beam. It parted at his foot into multiple branching beams, using his flight to push himself downward with more force. As he neared Piccolo, the Namek jumped backward while forming an energy ball between his hands in front of him. He thrust both hands at Naruto with a shout, the orb expanding to Naruto's full size once it was fired. Naruto vanished and appeared behind Piccolo, jumping and kicking Piccolo fiercely in the shoulder to launch the man down into the floor.

He rolled off of the floor, two fingers pressed to his forehead before being thrust at Naruto. "Makankosoppo!" This was a thin yellow beam with great power, an energy trail spiraling down the length from the tip of the beam like a drill. It caught Naruto off guard, spearing him through the head. He slumped to the ground as he bled and red energy flowed out, his face and skull reforming from the red power. As he shook his head and stood back up, Naruto glared at Piccolo.

"You didn't have to aim for lethal force, you know." Piccolo smirked at him, taking a fighting stance again.

"That wasn't lethal force, for you. Besides, you can heal from strikes that would kill me; your Saiyan blood will flourish from the blow." Piccolo said, Naruto laughing at the green man.

"Fine, fine you have a point; it still hurts like hell." Naruto said, Piccolo rushing him to be blocked with Naruto's raised foot. "How long have I got to keep practicing without my hands?!"

"Until you can hold me off without a hit that'd kill the others!" Piccolo said, launching another beam from his hand.

-0-

Over the remainder of the time outside of the Time Chamber, Trunks and Gohan found themselves worried. Vegeta was absorbed into his intense efforts to surpass Goku, while Goku had Gohan going about relaxing and generally doing nothing apart from his rule of maintaining their Super Saiyan forms for the entire time. Trunks was left to stave his anxiety off by engaging in his father's torturously intense training, he and his father currently training in his mother's space ship under five hundred times Earth's natural gravity.

Trunks had needed to bulk up to something Goku had classified as Super Saiyan Grade Two, a state in which his father liked to call himself Super Vegeta, but the Saiyan Prince was doing full-routine aerobics in his base form. The only notable strain was the large amount of sweat rolling off of him, but he still pressed on with his rigorous training while his son struggled to move properly.

Cell had made a public announcement utilizing a live television broadcast that he'd literally crashed in on, telling the world about his 'Cell Games' to take place ten days from then. While it fueled Vegeta's fire and Goku was reassured of something no one had a hint at, the two half-breed Saiyans were worrying more and more as the hours crept by. It was for this reason the Gohan and Trunks made sure to be present when Piccolo and Naruto were supposed to exit from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Their fathers each came along, Vegeta eager to sense how he stacked up to Naruto and Goku content to greet his new and old friends as they came out from training. Vegeta looked at Goku inquisitively, still unable to see any kind of hint beyond Goku's complete and total calm. Mr. Popo had no need to call out to anyone, as everyone on the lookout was watching as the doors began to open. The blinding light from the Time Chamber spilled out across the hallway, Naruto and Piccolo walking out with Naruto only a step or so ahead of Piccolo.

Naruto's clothes were tattered, his shirt completely gone at this stage. Piccolo's clothing was fresh and clean, as though it were brand new. Naruto was restraining his energy through relaxing himself completely, having several good reasons to be calm about the days to come. Naruto looked to Vegeta, the Saiyan prince glaring in annoyance as he noticed Naruto restraining himself. Goku grinned at Naruto, giving a wave.

"Hey there, how'd the training go you guys?" Goku's demeanor shone with positivity, Naruto unable to help but smile at the man.

"I learned a pretty great deal from Piccolo, I'd like to think I helped him get a decent bit stronger himself." Naruto said, Piccolo not responding in any way. Goku looked to Piccolo, sensing his energy himself.

"Wow, you're really a lot stronger now Piccolo. Although… I'm afraid you're still not strong enough to beat Cell." Piccolo grunted, frustration clear on his face.

"I already know that, but fortunately we don't have to rely on me. If the two of us have done our jobs right, then neither of us have anything to worry about." Piccolo said, looking knowingly at Goku who smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, so Naruto told you that, huh?" Goku asked, Vegeta looking to Goku with a bit of surprise before glaring at Naruto.

"You, what the hell is Kakarot up to? How did you figure it out when I couldn't?!" Vegeta demanded answers of Naruto, whose smile vanished as he looked dimly at Vegeta.

"I have no reason to answer you if you can't be even remotely polite. I'm still waiting for an apology about Eighteen." Naruto said, Vegeta raising a hand threateningly. Goku raised his arms in protest, Naruto placing his finger against the base of Vegeta's palm. "If you try anything, I'll destroy the bones in this arm. With Piccolo as a teacher, it's quite easy to replicate Freeza's Death Beam." Vegeta glared more fiercely, transforming up into his Super Vegeta state immediately. Naruto scoffed at him, Naruto's eyes turning red before Vegeta involuntarily transformed back. He was about to demand to know what happened, before a devastating pain appeared in several points on each side of his neck. "You're nowhere near fast enough to handle me, don't bother trying to."

Vegeta glared fiercely as he crumpled to the ground, once more bested by this random upstart from a laboratory. He was completely furious, Goku sighing and shaking his head before walking off.

"You've gotta stop being so insensitive, people don't work that way Vegeta." Gohan followed after his father, Trunks staying behind with Vegeta. Piccolo scoffed at Vegeta's stupidity, nudging Naruto on his shoulder.

"You want some new clothes? The reason I continually have mine is because I can use a skill to craft them." Piccolo explained, Naruto chuckling.

"Yeah, sure. Give me orange pants, an orange tank top and a dark blue vest." Naruto said, Piccolo pointing a finger at him before a yellow glow covered Naruto's clothes. When it faded, he was wearing the requested clothing, finding it perfectly fitted. "Well that's pretty cool, any way I can learn to do that?" Piccolo chuckled, answering the blond.

"Not really worth the time right now, after the Earth isn't destroyed by Cell." Piccolo answered, making Naruto laugh a bit.

"That's the funny part… neither of us are sure where the limit of his power is. All we know is that you and Goku are a tad weaker than what we can feel all the way up here… how do we know I can even hold a candle to this guy?" Naruto asked, Piccolo closing his eyes before his answer.

"The only way we can do this is to trust in Goku completely. He's confident that he's gauged Cell's power correctly, his strategy revolves around his being right." Piccolo said, smirking at Naruto. "Besides, you have a few ways you can tip the scales in your favor."

"Well… I _am_ a ninja after all." Naruto responded, walking off to speak with Goku for a moment. As he did, he found the man not too terribly far off. "Hey, Goku, I'm going out into space to train alone for a bit; I'll be back before Cell's little Game." Goku nodded, displaying complete and total calm at everything.

-0-

Naruto had gone off at a great speed an extreme distance from Goku, having kept his true intent to himself. While he anticipated a workout… Naruto was responding to the fact that a large number of energy signatures he'd learned to sense with Piccolo had all vanished as one. This wouldn't be terribly odd, if not for the fact that Naruto had been sensing an entire galaxy. As large spikes in power appeared frequently from nowhere, Naruto followed the energy source as quick as he could toward the destruction zone that once was the Southern Galaxy.

Naruto was many things, all culminating in his personality. However… only three traits from his childhood currently attributed to his tactical decision. He was a ninja, he was one who took his ambitions seriously, and he was not as foolish as people believed. He noticed that in one of the only untouched areas in the Southern Galaxy, there was a Spaceship. Per his training and against his gut instinct, he clung to the side and amplified his hearing while pressing his ear to the side of the ship. As he listened, he found himself fairly confused.

"We'll lead the fools to the planet, and then the comet will destroy them all and I'll have my chance to reign supreme." A man with a scar over his left eye spoke to another man, who seemed unnaturally docile and calm. He didn't even register to the man's speaking, his stare one of a person not aware of their surroundings. Naruto didn't know how to read minds the way Goku and Piccolo could, only the way that Kurama could before the 'repairs'.

That required eye contact. By that premise, Naruto was in no position to learn anything more than what the scarred man had to say. Based on the strength he could see in the man, the docile man was incredibly powerful; however his power sat as though it were sleeping. Naruto surmised that the blue-gemmed gold ornaments across the man were directly linked to a similarly colored ring around the scarred man's right hand. Naruto might've considered collateral damage further, but he was in a newly extinguished galaxy; collateral damage was kind of impossible there.

Floating back and closing his eyes, Naruto used his energy sensing to paint a silhouette of the scarred man from his energy within his mind. Overlaying it with his vision, Naruto took aim at the man's left hand with a single finger. A vibrant orange beam as thin as Naruto's finger shot out fast as light, piercing through the entirety of the ship as well as the man's hand and ring. As the blue gem shattered and the man shouted in surprise, the docile man immediately gained a clear sense of awareness in his eyes.

His eyes focused on the ring around the scarred man's bloody hand, the blue gem within broken. Looking to the bracers on his arms, he saw that the glow within the gems had faded away. He gained a look of disbelief, before this shifted to elation over into actual joy. However, as his captor's pained groans reached his ears, a rage was ignite within him. Naruto saw the energy inside the man explode outward, yet instead of drawing thin it was as though it expanded outward because a bottomless amount of power was being created behind it.

As the formerly enslaved man roared in anger, his aura became golden while his hair became a neon teal with a golden glow as though he'd become a Super Saiyan. It seemed the restraints still held back his form's true appearance, but his roar carried with it a volatile flow of energy. The ship exploded from the man, Naruto creating a barrier in front of himself using principles of the Rasengan in conjunction with his Ki energy. As the light died down, Naruto surged forward to stare the Super Saiyan in the face, his eyes red while staring into the Super Saiyan's own red eyes.

"Let's go on a trip, pal…"

-0-

Naruto's vision blurred into blackness before snapping into full color, however dim that color was. Naruto was surrounded by stormy skies of gray, a raging lightning storm swirling in a vortex from a single patch of ground.

Naruto had attempted to enter the raging man's mind, the area surrounding him invariably having to be the physical representation of the man's mind and emotions. He seemed to feel a lot like the way Naruto once did… or perhaps, more like his friend Gaara had once felt. Naruto floated down toward the barren bit of ground, a small boy with long hair like the raging Super Saiyan's own sitting huddled up against his knees looking out fearfully.

Naruto touched down, seeing the boy flinch as he did. Naruto decided not to move, uncertain of exactly how volatile the boy's mental state had made him. "Hey… you seem pretty scared. Are you ok?" The boy seemed to try and nod his head, looking at Naruto suspiciously.

"People always hurt me… don't try to hurt me…" The boy seemed to be warning Naruto more than pleading, perhaps even trying to threaten him. "If you come any closer, I'll make you go away."

"I don't really wanna get any closer, I'm only here to talk. You do that just fine." Naruto answered, the boy shifting uncomfortably. "So I'm gonna assume you don't like people then. I promise I won't hurt you, you don't have to worry about that. I won't come any closer either so you don't have to worry." Naruto said, the boy continuing to look at him suspiciously. "My name is Naruto, what's your name?"

"… my name is Broly…" He answered, continuing to look at Naruto suspiciously.

"You seem like you're pretty lonely this way, do you have a good reason to feel like this?" Naruto asked, the storm around him seeming to glimmer and beginning to show scenes from Broly's past. Naruto saw blackness, but heard a deafening and obnoxiously crying child. As he saw light come to the vision, he heard voices murmuring.

" _Be quiet, Kakarot; you're disturbing everyone else."_ A random purple alien tried to silence the boy, ultimately failing and resigning to having to walk off to spare himself the noise. The infant Broly's eyes failed to fall dark any more, Kakarot's cries keeping the infant awake. As time wore on and Kakarot's cries fell to silence, Broly's vision went dark in sleep. But suddenly there was a brilliant red flash across the whole area with lightning crashing throughout the clouds. Broly's vision opened to a Saiyan brandishing a knife who'd just stabbed him, the Saiyan leaving thinking his job was done. It was at that time that the scarred man ran in wearing less clothing than before and instead wearing Saiyan armor, seeming horrified at Broly's form.

As the vision shifted away, Naruto looked down to Broly in shock. "That… that wasn't fair. Would you allow me to do something? I don't need to get closer… I just want you to let me show you something in those clouds." Naruto said, Broly looking at him curiously. "I can show you my own memories too… but this is your head, I need your permission first." Broly looked at him, raising his head enough that Naruto could see the gemmed jewelry all over Broly even as a child.

"Ok… but if you do anything to me I'll make you go away for good." Broly said, a brief image of the scarred man before the explosion passing through the clouds. Naruto bowed with a big grin, Broly raising an eyebrow at the gesture. The cloud behind Naruto began to brighten, before they turned completely orange and flashed that color before a scene covered the screen of clouds.

"I had a friend named Gaara… he hated everyone and everything because he thought everyone wanted to hurt each other. He thought, in order to prove your life is worth anything, you have to kill. If anyone disagrees with you or demands something you don't like, you kill them." Naruto's red-haired friend Gaara appeared, Naruto's imaginings of Gaara's stories playing like a movie behind the blond. "He met me… he learned what my story was. He learned that apart from never having a family to betray me, we were the same. He told me about his own father… and his uncle…" The scenes in which Gaara grew close to his mother's brother, followed immediately by the scene in which Gaara had to kill the man… "Gaara was very hurt. But then, I was able to help him. He learned that he could live his life for the things he wanted, instead of to kill people. You're like him… but you're stronger. Both in the power you hold, and in your opportunity."

Naruto knew he was taking a risk, showing the scene where he met Goku and had to let him read his mind. "I met Kakarot, the boy that kept you awake…" As Naruto expected, Broly became agitated; he stood to his feet with a glowing green outline appearing around him. "And I learned everything he did to help people. A lot of people… some of them hurting just like you. You're lonely, right? You're afraid that people will hurt you?" Broly held himself back biting his tongue, drawing blood as he saw one of the people who'd done him wrong. "Look at his adventures… when you were a baby, you were far stronger than he was through any of this. Look at the things he was able to do WITHOUT all your strength…"

And this is where Naruto transferred the memories he'd gleaned from Goku and Gero's pod; everything that the boy had accomplished through skill, virtue and effort. Unknown to Broly, the appearance of Naruto's memories within his mind influenced his psyche with his emotions. As he viewed the scenes in the clouds, Broly's mind began becoming filled with sunlight.

"He did all of this fearlessly, in the hopes of helping other people; not only can he teach you to be safe from anyone, but he can teach you to control yourself and your energy." Naruto said, letting the clouds fade back to normal. "I can't force you to do anything… but he was only a child just like you. If he knew what he did he'd apologize, and he'd relish the opportunity to fight you without killing each other."

Broly stepped back, the winds around them dying down slightly. Images of the scarred man flashed through Broly's mind, Naruto sighing at it.

"He's gone, you got rid of him. He tried to use you, he hurt you whenever he wasn't a good enough father to help you stop being sad; it's probably his fault you're still so afraid of people." Naruto said, Broly glaring at him as the winds continued to die down. "Just trust me, please; you know you're strong enough to kill me if I'm lying." A ray of sunlight actually managed to shine down on the two, Broly not letting his face shift as he broadened his horizons.

"Fine… you better not be lying." Broly said, Naruto grinning as his eyes faded from red back to blue and slowly vanished from the odd place.

-0-

As Naruto's vision returned, the man seemed to have a clarity he'd been lacking before. He looked evenly at Naruto, an energy barrier protecting his vital need to breathe before the Frost Demon hybrid. Naruto smiled at the man, who crossed his arms in response. He tried to speak something, but Naruto wasn't using an air-holding technique to breathe; he was simply able to breathe in space. Thereby, no sound could travel between them until Naruto came close enough for Broly to extend his air-barrier.

"This had better not be a trick, I'll destroy everything if it is." Broly said, glaring shakily at the man who now knew more about him than anyone ever had. Likewise, though… Broly couldn't help but feel intrigued by how happy someone similar to himself could be without destroying. He saw all the power Naruto needed to beat Gaara… he wondered why it was that Naruto could handle his power while he couldn't.

"Don't worry, I promised you didn't I? I always keep my promises, you saw that yourself!" Naruto took off back in the direction of Earth, having to slow down to allow Broly to keep up without having to power up any. The last thing Naruto needed was for Broly's strength to really push his Saiyan blood to get into a fight. That was an issue Vegeta held, Naruto had noticed; the stronger the Saiyan the harder their aggressive instincts pushed them. The only reason Goku was so controlled was probably because of his extensive Martial Arts training; the man knew discipline second nature.

It was for that reason that Naruto wanted Piccolo to help him train Broly's self control. It was much like Gaara, Broly's power was a magnificent combat benefit but it was ruining the man's psyche. Nobody truly deserved that, and if Broly still sought destruction of his own will then Naruto would just have to try something else. Now when Naruto saw Broly, he could clearly see the terrified child in the powerful man's body language.

And so it would be, that Naruto and Broly began a whole-day trek back to Earth. It would seem that Cell had seven days left until Naruto and his newest friends all came before him… he'd given them six days too many.


	4. Chapter 4

I have to apologize, the site used to read what I used as a section-separator and break the story up, it hasn't been doing so anymore. I know use this "-0-" to separate my sections. Sorry if it messed up anyone's reading flow.

-0-

Model Number Twenty One

Ch 4 – Why Did Popo Apologize?

"Hmph, I thought you were supposed to be off world training, freak." Vegeta said, announcing Naruto's presence as he and Broly arrived atop the lookout. Naruto scoffed at Vegeta, gesturing to Broly.

"Well excuse me Prince of Saiyans, I thought you might actually give a damn about my locating another Saiyan. You could at least _try_ not to be a child." Naruto said, finding his patience for Vegeta's antics quite thin in the face of what could be either a great friend or brutal enemy. "His name is Broly, doesn't trust people, has good reason to kill you; listening yet?"

Broly looked to Naruto, managing to connect the dots between Vegeta and his early life as Naruto spoke. "This… is the son of King Vegeta? This whelp?" Broly asked, having always imagined the Saiyan Royalty as being of incredible power who sought to kill him. He knew from Naruto's affirmation that his Father hadn't lied about King Vegeta wanting Broly dead… but it also seemed that he exaggerated the man's strength.

Vegeta bristled at the large man's words, before Naruto stepped toward him. "Vegeta… I'm not about to let you do anything because you feel like you should have respect. I'm trying to convince Broly that not everyone is a selfish bastard who wants to kill him, I don't need you fucking my efforts up again. Am I being clear?"

"You're being clearly foolish, freak! I don't answer to either of you!" Vegeta shouted, only to be shouted back at louder from within the lookout's building.

"VEGETA YOU IDIOT, ARE YOU SERIOUSLY PUTTING YOUR OWN SON IN DANGER?!" Out walked a blue-haired woman carrying an infant child with Purple hair, Naruto looking over with surprise. It was at that point the former ninja became quite confused, but allowed things to carry on. As Vegeta seemed to suddenly become worried, Broly was keenly interested in how the woman's simple words turned Vegeta's mood so far. He began to sweat, he seemed nervous and it looked as though he were trying to think of something to say. "YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE AND GET BACK HERE IF YOU STILL WANT A PLACE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT!"

Vegeta glared harshly at Naruto, crossing his arms and walking over to the blue-haired woman in a huff. As Naruto turned to see Broly looking intently, Naruto smirked to himself and thought to ask about it. "Hey, what's got you so interested? That's Bulma, she's that friend of Kakarot's I showed you from my memories; Vegeta's the father of her child and she's pretty possessive of him. Heh, seems that includes getting pissed at him when he risks his life for a fight; we agree on that part being a flaw I guess."

"She has no power, no physical strength; it's clear why she wanted him to listen but why did he care?" Broly asked, looking down and confusedly into Naruto's eyes. "Naruto… what is the strange power this woman holds over Vegeta?" This made Naruto laugh, raising his hands to his head while shrugging sheepishly.

"That's just how men react to women, Broly; I'd bet you weren't allowed to ever explore your own interests given the shit you had on when I found you. My goal here is to show you destruction isn't the best way to live your life, that kind of thing is what I'm talking about. If you kill everyone there's no ladies left to help you be happy!" Naruto couldn't help but embody his old would-be sensei Jiraiya, giving a big grin and a thumbs-up while encouraging the continued existence of womankind. He even got his teeth to glint in his grin like the old pervert's used to.

"He seemed more afraid than happy, Naruto… I'm not sure we're observing the same event."

"He wasn't afraid of her is what I'm saying… he was afraid of _losing_ her. Mind you this was just, like, she doesn't want to be around him anymore rather than being killed, but it's still enough to make a man in love go against his own wishes for the woman." Naruto said, fumbling a little on the last part as he had trouble finding the right words for what he was trying to say. Broly seemed to understand, a look of realization appearing on his face.

"So… they're a weakness you don't want to get rid of? Doesn't that mean a fighter should try their best to avoid that?" Broly asked, Naruto smiling comfortably with a confident answer.

"Contrary, actually; the desire to defend a loved one pushes people to do incredible things. You saw how weak I was during that Chuunin Exam, but you also saw me take down Gaara when he threatened my loved ones; it's actually one of the best things that can happen to _anyone._ " Naruto explained, Broly gaining a contemplative look as the complex nature of the situation made him perplexed and thoroughly intrigued.

' _So people obtain a person they love, and although losing them is their greatest weakness, having them is their greatest strength? And a powerless weakling overcame a monstrous giant… just because he had someone he needed to protect? Hmm… perhaps it's good that no one remains to teach the old Saiyan ways of life…'_ Broly, deep in thought, began to quickly progress mentally as a person. As Naruto watched the man thinking, he held a soft smile while feeling quite pleased with himself. If Broly had remained angry after Naruto removed his bounds… if it had been _Goku_ in front of him when his mind returned to his own? The whole galaxy could've been a crater because of that…

At this time, Naruto saw Piccolo walk out from deeper within the lookout. He waved his latest sensei over toward himself, gesturing to Broly as the green man grew near. "This is Broly, Piccolo; I want you and Popo to help me teach him self control. Right now we just had a talk about women… he's processing the info. Take a look at the trip I just took if you need background info." Naruto said, treating his recent memories like a mission report to be handed in. Piccolo's palm touched Naruto's forehead, the events leading to the present rolling out before the man.

"I see… you're playing with fire Naruto, I hope you know what you're doing."

"Trust me, Sensei… Broly's a lot like a friend of mine, he deserves a chance to live for himself."

-0-

Mr. Popo had been requested to help Naruto and Broly practice to train their minds and spirits as he'd helped Goku to do many years before, Popo having remarked that he wasn't sure it would help Naruto at all. Naruto reassured that he had his own mental training to work own, but also asserted that the primary purpose was to help Broly develop into an actual person. At that, Popo decided that using himself as a plateau to reach above wouldn't work; he would need to give Broly a more personal incentive for looking, a better metaphor for him to contemplate upon to reach his answers.

Like Goku, a child confident in his own strength believing everything was a fight, became worldly and learned to hold himself back and think. Broly was here to learn to be a person, able to hold great power without it owning him, able to be happy for his own wants. And so, the words came clearly to Popo as he sent Naruto and Broly to a mountain range neither were familiar with. His words, however, served to shock Naruto a bit.

"I do hope you will forgive me, Naruto… but this training is for the both of you. Now, you two must reach the top of the mountain without flying and without using any form of energy attack. You must reach the Old Sage of your own strength, and you cannot return to this world until he allows you to. Broly, do you accept this mission for the sake of learning how to know what you want?" Popo asked, Broly nodding without hesitation and a look of inspired curiosity in his eyes. "Naruto, do you accept this mission for the sake of finding yourself?"

"Kinda what _my_ training was for, but I'll do yours if you want… you know I can run up walls _without_ flying right?" Naruto asked, Popo shaking his head.

"Then don't. Are you both ready?" The three stood within an odd room, the visage of the mountain's landscape upon screens throughout the circumference of the room while an odd multi-armed contraption stood behind Popo. As the both nodded, Popo gained the oddest grin Naruto had ever seen… and then suddenly, instead of Popo and the machine surrounded by mountain-showing screens; Popo, the machine, the floor, the ceiling and the gaps between each screen all vanished and the two instructed to learn fell about a meter to stand on the ground of the mountain itself.

Naruto looked around, the energy gleaned from Kurama reacting almost agitatedly in its place within Naruto. This made him wary, and he immediately regretted not asking Popo a crucial question. _'He knew I wanted to train… so why did he apologize for it first?'_ The answer became clear as a toad landed before the two of them… and then spoke.

"Hey, how did you guys get here? There's not supposed to be any way to do that without permission from the Boss!" Naruto's jaw slowly dropped, reeling his energies into himself by training with Piccolo. He immediately shot into the air at the literal speed of light, the friction of it burning even his Frost Demon Hybrid hide off and needing it to regenerate as he tried to break through what he hoped was illusion. As he made it passed a Galaxy that didn't even exist in the world he learned to fly in, he grimaced and flew back down to Broly with an angry look on his face before howling above himself.

"NICE FUCKING WARNING, POPO!"

-0-

"Mr. Popo… you put him in a different dimension and I _still_ heard him shout… what did you do?" Piccolo asked, Popo smiling creepily again.

"I should have asked like you and Goku do… but I always was more like Roshi than Kami when it came to mind-reading." Piccolo's eyes widened, his face almost shouting 'You didn't!' at the genie. "Naruto… is where he _needs_ to be right now. You know the capabilities of this lookout… all I did was call to the Guardian of his Home when I saw his memories. His request… was most troubling."

"… Naruto isn't going to be back very soon, is he?" Trunks asked, having been wondering about the shout himself.

"He could be, but he'll tell you all about that when he returns." Popo answered, turning and walking away with the creepy grin ever present as the good-willed genie relished the chance to be important again. _'But Naruto, please… don't do anything rash.'_

Through the machine room, that that played to the both of Naruto and Broly through a loudspeaker, but the small toad was of the world they'd been sent to and couldn't resonate with the machine's speaker. The simple answer being, since the two seekers had been in that room before they could hear the speaker, but not anyone nor anything else around them.

"My name is Broly, this is my… friend, Naruto. We were sent here by a man in the heavens called Mr. Popo to learn about… life." Broly said, his understanding of their mission basic beyond that he was to learn what life meant. The toad seemed satisfied with the answer, his question turning different.

"Fair enough, although we _did_ ask him to tell the Boss before doing this. But…" The toad looked briefly to Naruto, thinking itself sly while not knowing Naruto saw the glance, "I can see why he decided to send you two through here. What were the conditions he gave you? The both of you are strong, what aren't you allowed to do in your time here?"

"We aren't allowed to fly, or use energy attacks. We… essentially, we have to fight like-"

"Ninjas." Naruto cut Broly off, bitter about where Popo had sent them. However, it wasn't as bad as he thought; this was a place Naruto didn't know. As far as he could recall… that could only be a good thing. "It seems I'll be teaching you some combat skills, Broly; Popo mandated we only use traditional martial artist skills. And in this place… that means ninja skills. Welcome, Broly… this is the world where Konoha exists." The toad sighed, Broly looking at Naruto in surprise.

"But… don't you hate it here? Aren't you… aren't you angry about this?" Broly asked, Naruto nodding.

"Yeah, oh hell yes I'm pissed; but Popo isn't a fool. He sent me back here for a reason… and he sent you with me for a reason. That must mean… that must mean something's wrong here. Isn't that right, little Gama?" Naruto asked, the toad looking surprised all of a sudden. "I signed the contract, and I spoke with the Fox a few times… I've never been here, and I know nothing about this place, but I can definitely feel all the spirits of the Toad Clan around us. We can only be… upon Mt. Myouboku, the Sacred Mountain of the Toads."

Broly looked around, feeling a sense of wonder at the brilliantly shining sunlight across the magnificent rainforest-like area. Only minutes before it was a barren mountain range, and the moment after the toad spoke the terrain shifted beyond Broly's notice. _'This world, this world that did such horror… can be so beautiful? Can I… be like this?'_

"So, I don't know your name. You surely know me… I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Under the Boss's word, I'm one of this Clan; I request audience with him." Naruto said, Piccolo's own discipline training having involved learning manners. The toad seemed to smile, hopping up to Naruto's shoulder.

"Broly-san, please hold Naruto-san's shoulder." Naruto groaned, forgetting the language differences.

"Good god, honorifics… Broly, I'll translate for you. San means mister here." Broly still seemed perplexed, but accepted the answer as he clasped his friend's shoulder while they both vanished.

-0-

The next moment, they were outside of a massive hot spring with two individuals present. One was a very tiny green toad, while the other was an extremely large re- wait, no… it _wasn't_ Gamabunta, even though he was the same height; this toad was _orange_. "Hey, what's the big idea kid?! I asked you to bring me to the Boss, where's Bunta-Ojii?!"

" _Bunta-Ojii?_ Me and my little brother are the only ones who ever called Tou-san that name!" The great orange toad bellowed, speaking in a voice that Naruto knew well; a voice that shocked him.

"G-Gamakichi?! What the hell is going on here?!" Naruto shouted, Broly looking even more confused than Naruto sounded.

"Wait… I thought Gamakichi was a tiny orange toad that loves candy and thi-"

"Well now I'm a BIG orange toad that loves candy! Naruto, I should've recognized you! For the long and unwarranted silence between us, you owe me twenty pounds of chocolate candies." Naruto's jaw dropped once more, his eyes going blank with disbelief at his near-brother friend from a few gene-splicings ago. "Now… why is it that you tread upon Myouboku? The only reason you are permitted is your status on the scroll, you must explain yourself in order to justify your friend's presence here."

"He's… like Gaara. Not like… not like how Gaara's like _me_ , like, he's hurt and confused. The easy explanation… he needs a friend who knows where he's at, like me. And actually, I could introduce you to Gaara!" This is where the tiny green toad coughed loudly, making it obvious he meant to interject.

"You speak of Godaime Kazekage-dono, correct? Sabaku no Gaara of Sungakure?" The toad asked, all those words confusing Broly while making Naruto stop and look disbelievingly at him. "He has gone into hiding with the rest of the Go-Kage Alliance; They are being overwhelmed by Madara's onslaught."

Next came a reaction Broly had once experience himself, but instead of his own rage and green power it was Naruto's laden in crimson energy.

" **Madara!"** Emotions from over three centuries flowed forth from deep within Naruto, his hair pressing straight up and losing all color to bleach white. His energy aura became pure glowing red, the armor-plates once blue now being a glowing purple color as red energy came off of him like steam. **"He… he has caused EVERY problem with his damn power lust! His ambition IS the revenge that kept Kurama's hate burning! HE is why all these innocent lives were RUINED!"**

Broly was shocked, seeing Naruto's form shift in a way he had done himself… whatever the reason for his transformation being red, Naruto had become a Super Saiyan in the incredible fury this 'Madara' evoked. And from what it sounded like… the torment of Naruto in Konoha that Broly witness may have been Madara's fault somehow. That being… if the Kyuubi attack was his fault as well. And the only name Naruto had for it was Kurama…

' _Kurama attacks… Kurama gives Naruto his power and knowledge… but Naruto feels like he was used. It's like he feels like it's all his fault…'_ Broly then remembered another thing he witnessed, relevant to the transformation and things Naruto thought just after re awakening as Model Twenty One. Kurama's power is red, Naruto's current power; while before and presently, his personal strength was blue. And as he awoke… he said it was Kurama's revenge was for him to carry out for the being, as though Kurama himself were lost. _'When he came here, the vortex was ripping him apart because he was human. Naruto is alive… because Kurama merged with him when they were about to die. Naruto's mortal personality was the template, but he's grown up all but instantly… grown smarter… Naruto and Kurama are_ BOTH _Naruto now… and Madara is the source of everything that ever went wrong with Kurama's life…'_

"Naruto, stop it. You're… acting like me." Broly said, Naruto turning and showing Broly glowing violet eyes. "Please… you're the only one who's willing to understand my place right now, and I've felt more than I did ever before just by learning with you. Don't be like the thing you saved me from becoming." Broly looked to Naruto, a glimmer of green energy appearing. "I know I can… I'll stop you until you calm down if you won't listen. Please… be the kid who made me his friend, not the fox who was taken advantage of. You need to be the good kid that helps everyone to beat the one who ruined everything."

Naruto found himself surprised at how Broly was speaking to him, especially at seeing the actual emotions in the man's eyes. Naruto's red aura calmed, while his eyes and hair stayed the same indicating the transformed state. "You… you _are_ right, anyway. That won't help much… but I need to stop this now. You said 'Madara's Onslaught'… that makes me feel like he's winning whatever conflict is going on, correct?"

Now came the bits of strategy gleaned from Gero's pod… if the foe was confident, and you had the strength then you could cripple a whole army by eliminating key necessary officers.

"Uchiha Madara has been resurrected, and through the acquisition of Eight out of the Nine Bijuu he has attained most of the power of the Juubi, having partially resurrected it and sealing it into himself to hold onto its powers. All he lacks is the Kyuubi's powers… this is why his power has been enough to enslave the world through force, over permanent Genjutsu." The small toad answered, Naruto nodding his head.

"I'll just have to kill him then. Hagoromo… Rikudou Sennin… all this effort just to have a dimensional accident settle the fight… Still. This is Kurama's word to you… Madara will be stopped and peace WILL reign on this earth." Naruto had been carrying a good deal of weight from the Demon Fox that saved his life, and the remnant powers he'd left kept Naruto alive and well when he truly needed it. Now, it was time to fulfill Kurama's promise.

It was time to exterminate Uchiha Madara.

"So… what do we do Naruto? We're supposed to climb the mountain without using our powers. Is that not what we're going on to do right now?" Broly asked, Naruto shaking his head.

"That was a farce to make it look like we were getting a similar training to Goku. No… no Popo needed a way to send us here without my objection. We won't get out of here without Old Gama-Sennin in the Oracle Bath letting us go, and that won't happen with a tyrant ruling the world through Military obliteration. Nah… Broly, today you're learning what playing the Hero _really_ feels like. This world's counting on us, and if we don't do it no one can. Let's go save the world!"

After the short monologue, Naruto forewent Popo's restrictions and ran out of the Hot Springs til he found open air, flying out and away from the mountain with Broly following behind. While Naruto had a determined scowl on his face as he shouldered all the hatred for Madara, Broly held an excited smile as he actually felt _good_ about using his strength for once. He didn't ever believe it could, but he was now completely blown away at how amazing it felt to use his powers for something he felt was right.

Even if it was only the thought of doing so driving him onward thus far.

-0-

Konoha had been devastated. Iwa had been a long-standing stronghold. Suna had been snuffed out with a vicious sandstorm. Kumo had been destroyed by rocking lightning from all sides. No one was _certain_ of what happened to Kiri, but the whole edge of the continent was fifty meters lower than before, completely underwater. All remaining settlements bended to whim, and all pockets of resistance were sought out by the Zetsu Squads of Uchiha Madara, prime ruler of the Elemental Nations.

Within an Iwa basement, many former Konoha kunoichi hid out with women of multiple other origins. In exchange for a situational accepted request, all women could have refuge in Iwa. This was because Madara intended to allow Iwa to resist futilely… by eliminating ALL women and children. If a woman felt willing to look for a boyfriend, and were willing to move the physical end of the relationship along quickly, they were given refuge. And against many women's worst fears, none were kicked out if they frequently refused boyfriends as long as they DID consider. However, given that many nation took refuge in Iwa most women found more than acceptable boyfriends, suitably preferable in many cases. But there were a few amongst the Konoha and Kiri refugees that were both mentally and emotionally damaged to the point they couldn't accept JUST anyone… and in four cases they could each only accept one.

Senju Tsunade had been given refuge for her skills, not per contract; this was simply because she refused to bother lying, she was up front about the fact that her personally considered true love was dead and that she no longer cared for anything remotely romantic, nor sexual. Yamanaka Ino believed she was capable of moving on from what she'd seen, but she had witness both of her best friends die in front of her, and they were like brothers to her. She now felt like any man she held would die, just because she cared for them, and began experiencing profound anxiety episodes toward the third or fourth date of any potential boyfriend.

Haruno Sakura pushed herself fairly hard to forgive her childish natures earlier in life, but refuse to accept that her mistakes weren't purely her own fault and thereby never let go of these mistakes. This causes her to compare everyone she feels amazed by with Sasuke and feeling unfair for doing so, and comparing anyone she felt a fault with to Naruto and feeling shame for doing so. Between these reactions, she rarely managed to do more than flirt and have friendly visits at mostly-male parties. Unfortunately for such circumstance, she couldn't bring herself to simply have children for the population. Every night she had issues handling herself, let alone a child who would need a mother.

Hyuuga Hinata had become relatively established as a productive member of society, but several of the immigration regulatory board were frustrated with her as she was an example of EXACTLY what they _didn't_ want. She was a moderately skilled ninja, from Konoha allowed in on promise of basic situational acceptable proposal like all other refugee women. However, she did two things. She only accepted dates from men refuged in Iwa under the Military Futility Act, the idea that any man seeking refuge faced death anyway, and thereby had to immediately become militarily active. This allowed her to possibly have her appearance socially as a person who never had kids because her boyfriends are brave and keep dying.

The second thing was that she never dated anyone beyond three times, and by those who remained to answer on the topic all attested that she treated it like a business formality. And by the way the law was written, there was absolutely no way to bother even trying to handle it. It seemed to the officials like she was simply playing their system for safe asylum, and to their credit… Hinata herself agreed with that idea.

While it ashamed her, holding little solace in the lack of remaining family to judge her, she needed to survive. She had fallen for a boy of incredible moral standing and personal strength, and due to her fierce desire for him, her perception of men all fell based on him. One wasn't brave enough, another wasn't confident enough, one could be brave but too smart, another could be brilliant but hold no confidence; her personal perception was all completely centered on a man she could never truly believe vanished when they were nearly half their current age.

Ten years earlier, very nearly eleven, a boy she admired so thoroughly she fell in love had completely vanished. Since then, she'd romanticized who he was back then into _her_ perfect traits. This held her back thoroughly, and it served poorly for her standing socially. However, holding out hope that _someone_ would be more like him, Hinata ignored them and simply resigned herself to continue searching for boyfriends.

This was until the day Madara grew impatient with his searches for the last Bijuu, deciding to simply eliminate any pockets of resistance. He decided the central hub would be the only place he'd avoided attacking, Iwagakure. As Madara floated above the city with his Rin'negan glaring, he chuckled with no personal ability to sense the energy approaching him. With his back to the red and green orbs flying toward him, Hyuuga Hinata also missed the two approaching warriors that Madara couldn't see while she jumped to the top of the great Wall of Iwa. Erected and multiple times improved against Madara's Zetsu hordes, she stood two kilometers above the ground while he flew only five meters higher at twenty from her.

"You've been ruining the entirety of this world… whether I die or not, this was the last day I ever lived hiding from the likes of you!" With this, Hinata lunged at Madara, who used his powers to push her away with an unseen barrier of force. The next moment, Hinata was lifted and her vision blurred into a mixture of colors, a red column surrounding this blur of color.

"Well… I didn't expect to see you after so long, Hinata." On instinct, Hinata blushed and grew annoyed with the closeness of a non-honorific name.

"That's Hinata- _san_ , now who the hell- are… you…" As she tried to complain about the name closeness, Hinata's eyes began to recognize the slightly tanned face under newly white and upward-forced hair. "B-b-but… no, no… oh god, now I need more therapy with Yoshino-hakase don't I?!" Hinata seemed to believe she was delusional, a massive blush appearing over her face. "Screw it, it's been too long since I even imagined you; Naruto-kun!" Hinata pulled the man into a kiss, the very-real man shocked at the woman who thought she was hallucinating.

After pulling his mouth away, Naruto stopped flying and questioned in shock. "Hinata, what the hell?! I thought you were just a shy little girl, since when have you had a thing for me?!" This was when Hinata focused more, looking more closely and seeing Naruto fore-arms and eyes. She was a bit shocked, but she reached her hand out the feel his cheek; it was exactly the same, but the whiskers were gone. There were vertical lines now, on contact being thin divots through his face.

"N-N-Naruto?!" Hinata was shocked, the blond nodding his head as she was dumbstruck by his random and odd new appearance. She would've inquired further, but his and her own eyes were drawn to Broly as he became a Super Saiyan with a grunt, his form a normally appearing Super Saiyan as opposed to before in his mind control devices. "What's happening?! How much did I drink last night?!"

"Hinata, you drink? You were the most innocent girl I ever met! It was cute!" Naruto said, Hinata's instincts over recent years acting before her crush for Naruto did.

"Cute girls are allowed to get drunk too, ass!" Hinata shouted, Naruto getting sheepish before he remembered Madara. It would've been a non-issue given Broly's presence and intent to give Naruto a little time… but Broly had been knocked to the ground by Madara. However futile… it proved to Naruto the monster-man was stronger than he'd thought.

Naruto calmed himself looking to Hinata as he set her onto her own feet. "We need to catch up afterward… but this guy's why I'm back here. My Sensei sent me here to learn about myself… now I'm seeing everything he meant about that. I promise I'll be back before I leave, promise to hear me out?" Naruto asked, his face pleading yet serious as he begged Hinata enough time to talk later. She looked at him, thought to her core, and then smiled with a sigh.

"Of course… but come back alive, ok?" She said, leaning forward and kissing Naruto rather tenderly. While his eyes bulged, Hinata's whole form relaxed at the huge amount of personal stress she'd put on her desire to kiss the man. "Otherwise you won't get to ask why I did that." With that, Hinata heeded his request and retreated as fast as she could. Naruto was dazed a moment, chuckling to himself as he regained his composure.

' _Well then… guess that explains 'Weird Little Hinata' pretty clearly, huh?'_ With this, Naruto flew off to where Madara had been gloating over Broly. With all pieces in place, all powers in play, and all players in the fight, Naruto prepared to end the source of all his life's misdeeds.

It was finally time for Kurama's revenge to be made.


End file.
